Post-Kyoto International Climate Policy - Summary for Policymakers

The Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements seeks to identify key design elements of a scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically pragmatic post-2012 international policy architecture for global climate change. It draws upon leading thinkers from academia, private industry, government, and non-governmental organizations from around the world to construct a small set of promising policy frameworks and then disseminate and discuss the design elements and frameworks with decision-makers. The Project is directed by Robert N. Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. For more information, see the Project's website: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/climate • Highly topical contribution to climate policy debates that searches for a new treaty to succeed Kyoto when it expires in 2012 • The Harvard Project is entirely non-partisan and is the world's most comprehensive and authoritative study of all aspects of climate policy whose advice is sought by the UN and national governments • Distils key findings from the Harvard Project into an easy reference for policymakers, journalists, climate activists, and amateurs with an interest in climate policy

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Reviews:

'With this book, the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements provides an excellent analysis of the potential instruments and policies available for a new climate regime. The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 is a decisive moment for our ability to address a global challenge together. As the host of the Conference, Denmark plays a critical role in facilitating a global agreement. This book is a valuable tool for the negotiations.' - Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark and President of the 15th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 'Addressing climate change is the defining challenge of our age. If we are to rise to this challenge, an ambitious and comprehensive global agreement must be reached urgently. This book provides an informative and timely analysis of the design options for such a global agreement and its subsequent implementation and will be an essential reference book to inform policy makers in their efforts to develop an architecture which is based on science, economically rational, and politically feasible.' - Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for Environment, European Commission 'A global agreement on climate change is of profound importance for the future of the planet. It must be effective, efficient and equitable. The details of the translation of these principles into practice matter greatly. The work of Aldy and Stavins is of very high quality and a major contribution. It should be read by all those with an interest in or involved with, the Copenhagen Summit of 2009 and beyond.' - Lord Nicholas Stern, I. G. Patel Professor of Economics and Government, London School of Economics and Political Science 'The world desperately needs a global climate change agreement, and this impressive collection of scholarly work highlights the essential challenges facing global leaders, and outlines possible paths to reach such an agreement.' - Eileen Claussen, President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change 'This publication will provide indispensable advice for those responsible for the climate change negotiations at Copenhagen and what follows. The contributors and editors are the world's foremost experts, with both academic and practical experience in science, economics, law, and diplomacy – and making government structures work. The climate talks involve arguably the most important but also the most complex international negotiations ever conducted. It is therefore essential that the parties have access to the wisdom provided in this volume.' - C. Boyden Gray, Former United States Ambassador to the European Union 'Global climate regime building requires intellectual inputs. This timely volume of highly essential and constructive elements provides a wide readership with an in-depth understanding of equity, sustainability, and efficiency approaches to a successful conclusion of an international climate agreement at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, December 2009.' Pan Jiahua, Director, Research Centre for Sustainable Development, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Part I. Alternative International Policy Architectures 1. An elaborated proposal for global climate policy architecture: specific formulas and emission targets for all countries in all decades 2. The EU emission trading scheme: a prototype global system? 3. Linkage of tradable permit systems in international climate policy architecture 4. The case for charges on greenhouse gas emissions 5. Towards a global compact for managing climate change 6. Sectoral approaches to a post-Kyoto international climate policy framework 7. A portfolio system of climate treaties Part II. Negotiation, Assessment, and Compliance 8. How to negotiate and update climate agreements 9. Metrics for evaluating policy commitments in a fragmented world: the challenges of equity and integrity 10. Justice and climate change 11. Toward a post-Kyoto climate change architecture: a political analysis Part III. The Role and Means of Technology Transfer 12. International climate technology strategies 13. Mitigation through resource transfers to developing countries: expanding greenhouse gas offsets 14. Possible development of a technology clean development mechanism in a post 2012 regime Part IV. Global Climate Policy and International Trade 15. Global environment and trade policy 16. A proposal for the design of the successor to the Kyoto protocol Part V. Economic Development, Adaptation, and Deforestation 17. Reconciling human development and climate protection: a multi-stage hybrid climate policy architecture 18. What do we expect from an international climate agreement? A perspective from a low-income country 19. Climate accession deals: new strategies for taming growth of greenhouse gases in developing countries 20. Policies for developing country engagement 21. International forest carbon sequestration in a post-Kyoto agreement Part VI. Modeling Impacts of Alternative Allocations of Responsibility 22. Modeling economic impacts of alternative international climate policy architectures: a quantitative and comparative assessment of architectures for agreement 23. Sharing the burden of GHG reductions 24. When technology and climate policy meet: energy technology in an international policy context 25. Revised emissions projections for China: why post-Kyoto climate policy must look east 26. Expecting the unexpected: macroeconomic volatility and climate policy Part VII. Epilogue 27. Epilogue: implementing architectures for agreement